Dun Dun Dun it's here. The death has begun. Sorry if any of your tributes die or any of the ones you were routing for, most of them will die in the end, unfortunately. I can't believe we're finally here after all this time we did it! I've never not completed a syot and I don't plan to start now. Anyway enough talking from me i'll let you read! - Nautics

Bloodbath

Nadia Miniera, 13, District 12

My eyes shoot open and my heart sinks to my stomach. The sun just begins to peek over the horizon, showering the skyscrapers in a beautiful orange. Without a single cloud in the sky, the blue and orange blend perfectly together in the distance. What a beautiful day to die.

There's a knock on my door and I nearly jump out of my bed. I pull the covers close to my chest, still anxious and frankly, still asleep.

"Nadia, it's almost time to go." The high pitch of my escort's voice cuts through the door and wakes me. I shake myself out of my anxiety-induced trance and throw the covers off of me.

"Coming." I say as I scramble to find something to wear. After comparing the first shirt and leggings I pulled out of the closet, I realized it hardly matters. The Gamemakers will give us a uniform. I wonder what it will entail.

Another knock comes as I'm pulling the shirt over my head.

"One second!" I shout back with an unintended intensity. I don't bother to fix my hair or clean up anything. Instead, I storm out of the room, and pretend I know where I'm going. Fortunately, there's avoxes stationed everywhere to help guide me out the building and towards the hovercraft. Couldn't afford to lose me now, could they?

I take a seat next to Charon, who's fixated on a point directly in front of him. I get a quick glance at the tributes besides him, two of the younger girls, I think from Three and Seven. They're whispering to one another, one of them giving Charon a side eye. I lean in a little, wanting to hear what they're saying, but Charon breaks his focus to glare at me, so I pull back.

Across from us are a group of four Careers. Henry, Franz, Harrison, and Tatiana. With the exception of Harrison, all of them have been training for this moment. They know what to expect, they know what they want, and more importantly, they know how to get it. It's not fair to the rest of us, frankly. Imagine how much more powerful I could be if I had the same opportunities as them. If I had a sword at my disposal instead of my alchemy gear. Although…would I have preferred that?

No. But at least I wouldn't be terrified.

A woman in a black tracksuit walks around to each of us, injecting a tracker in everyone's forearm. No one complains.

We fly across the country for what feels like two hours, not a single word exchanged between any of us. I find the silence exacerbating my anxiety. And for no logical reason, I want to get out of this hovercraft. Even if it means entering my untimely demise.

Just when I think I'm about to lose it, the hovercraft lands. The windows are tactfully blacked out so we can't see the landscape as the hovercraft pad descends into the tunnel system underground.

We are led out of the hovercraft and through the tunnels, and one by one we disappear into our own private death chambers. I'm the last to reach mine.

Inside is a small table, a tube to take me into the arena, and a box of clothes. The woman in a tracksuit instructs me to change, then heads out the door. I noticed how she didn't lock me in. I guess, where would I go?

So I do as instructed. I open the box and pull out each individual piece. The first thing I notice is a pair of old-timey, brown leather boots. The tan long-sleeved shirt is loose, with a slight v-neck. The tan pants are also loose, and a strange, slightly uncomfortable material. I can't place my finger on it, but they feel…medieval, almost. Definitely not Capitol quality.

I tuck the pants into the boots and the shirt into the pants. Thankfully, there's a nicer leather-made belt that helps keep it in place. And a jacket of the same color and material. It even has a few pockets.

"Tributes, please enter the tubes. They will rise in sixty seconds." A robotic voice booms across the concrete halls. Despite the layers, a chill seeps into my bones. I am literally hearing the Capitol countdown to my death. And I'm powerless to stop it.

Without any other choice, I step into the tube. The glass door shuts behind me, and all I can hear is the sound of my rapid breathing. I want to close my eyes. I want to escape. But I can only watch.

The podium rises, taking me into the arena. At first, I can't register anything. I can't make out what's in the distance. But as my eyes adjust to the light, and my brain starts to focus, I start to make out landmarks. Like a series of wooden houses across the way. Wooded lands surrounded those houses. A mountain in the distance. Do I see a lake?

"The Games will begin in 60 seconds." A large countdown is projected into the sky.

Let the 95th Hunger Games begin.

Tristan Card, 14, District 8

10... 9… 8…

The countdown seems to freeze for a brief moment, with time. My ears suddenly become numb of the surroundings. My eyes move around to the tributes placed around me and dart between this newfound environment I find myself in. The metal cornucopia in the middle is surrounded by a kind of grassy terrain. However, on the outside, there are many trees and wooden houses too. The sky at least is a sunny blue, mixed with the occasional grey cloud. The trees seem to be bunched on the right of me while many of the houses are directly behind me. Even in the morning sun, I get a chilly breeze from the air. That coupled with the countdown sends a shiver down my spine.

On my left is… Charon. Our eyes meet briefly and he sends me a friendly wink, remembering our strange and awkward conversation last night. Hastily, I look away shaking my head. I can't let him get to me, I have no idea what he's trying to do.

5, 4, 3…

Arianwen, Levi, Ivory, August… I spent so much time trying to make sure they were happy, trying to make sure they were safe, trying to make sure I never upset them or undermined them or made them feel like they were any less loved than me. Now look where I am. About to run into literal death.

"Why you always gotta be such a people pleaser Tristan?" The words of my parents echo through my mind.

"Take some time to worry about yourself for once," my dad said.

BOOM

The noise of the gong rings! I am snapped back to reality! Already many of the tributes are bounding towards the center, while some of the younger ones are taking off towards the trees and houses. I appear to be frozen momentarily, my senses numb, the only sound to be heard is that of my heart thumping in my chest. What am I doing? I have to do something, whether it be slip away or run to the middle. I can't just wait here to die.

Hesitantly, I slide off the pedestal. The plan! Yes, the plan. Before the games, I agreed to get some supplies for Nadia and meet her outside… Nadia! I spot the small twelve girl. There she is, already in the center of the metal dome, searching around for supplies. This isn't what we agreed! Did she not trust me to get the supplies?

My legs almost immediately begin sprinting towards my ally, dodging around the chaos that the arena has exploded into! A larger boy zooms past me but there's no time to even see who it is! I have to get to Nadia!

"Nadia, what are you doing?!" I yell at the top of my lungs, only meters from her now.

The vicious-looking girl from one is creeping behind her slowly from behind with a curved sword in hand. Her face is consumed with a lust for violence. Her eyes are fixed on my ally like a wolf about to strike its prey.

"Nadia turn around… turn around!"

She is only a few feet away from my ally now. Nadia's eyes connect with mine briefly, they light up with surprise, but she must notice the terror in my mine as she turns around to the One girl. My mind narrows to a tunnel vision even with the chaos erupting around me. A deep breath courses through my chest, my heels dig in beneath me into the ground. Then, I launch myself towards my ally, she is frozen in shock as the career brings her sword down to the small girl.

CRASH

Slamming my shoulder into Nadia's, she is thrown to the ground.

"ARGH!" I gasp.

The world falls still. A sharp pain zaps through my shoulder and deep into my chest. It hurts so much!

"Arggh."

My eyes are still locked on the downed Nadia, she is panting, her face is filled with horror. Why is time moving so slowly?

Then I see it. The silver blade sticking out the front of my chest, there's blood… a lot of blood… slithering down my body. My own blood.

Things are going fuzzy and blurry now, Nadia is still there but it could be my sister Arianwen … I'm not sure anymore. Whoever it is … I manage to muster a final smile of reassurance. Nadia or Arianwen… it doesn't matter. I want the best for them and that smile is my only way of giving them hope of that. It's the only thing left that I can do, I try to say something but it's just a gargle of blood.

There they are again, the voices of my parents "Why you always gotta be such a people pleaser Tristan?"… "Take some time to worry about yourself for once."

I then fall to my knees and my head hits the ground sideways. Everything goes dark…

Serenity Jasper, 16, District 9

The gong goes off and my feet are moving faster than I can process what's happening. I swoop up a sword just on the outskirts of the Cornucopia and slide to a halt, quickly scanning my surroundings.

I catch sight of a body running towards me and dodge instinctively. The body stumbles to the ground, seemingly having expected to tackle me to the ground. As the body turns to face me, I recognize him. Ricky.

"You're dead weasel," he attempts to taunt.

He launches himself towards me again but I'm faster. I back up, then find a scimitar laying behind me before swinging it across his neck. He tries to yell something at me, but it's muffled by him choking. His head hits the ground before his body, and it rolls towards me. I close my eyes to avoid it, but it's too late. The image is ingrained in my mind now.

I stop staring and turn around. Careers have all gotten their fair share of weapons and are each dealing with their own attackers. All except Harrison, who's standing his guard near the mouth of the cornucopia, axe in hand. As I approach, I'm careful to make sure he sees me before I end up with an axe in my neck.

The two of us stand side by side as the rest of the Careers make work out of their victims. The boy from Eight has just been felled by Jade as I think. The boy from Ten collapses in front of his District partner with a dagger sticking out of his neck. And Ricky. The boy from my District, dead at my hands.

It wasn't my fault. I wouldn't have killed him if he didn't attack me. He made it clear from the start that it was him vs me. It wasn't a fight I was willing to lose. So why can't I stop thinking about it?

The meat of the battle ends as quickly as it began. I count six bodies scattered around.

"Alright. Move the valuables inside. Separate the supplies by category. Let's move." Jade barks orders at us, and I'm tempted to ignore her out of pure principle, but the idea doesn't sound terrible. Noticeably, Taliesin and Henry are still absent somewhere.

"How are you?" Harrison whispers in my ear as we both bend down to place some backpacks we carried in.

"I'm fine. I snap back, turning my back to him to bring some more gear in. I don't need to talk to him right now.

"Are you sure? He was from home." He follows me and I feel my fingers form a fist. I face him.

"If you're going to overthink every move, every kill you make in here, you might as well leave the alliance now, because you won't last."

Harrison takes a step back, his concerned expression dropping in an instant. He nods, walking back to rejoin the others near the center.

Great start, Serenity. I turn my back to the group so no one can see my face. Harrison's concern isn't what's bothering me. What's bothering me is how right he is. And I don't like it.

Beckett Amory, 13, District 3

The countdown reaches its climax. My heart is buzzing, I'm shaking with adrenaline. For some reason, the words of my grandpa won't stop recycling through my head "Remember Beckett… be like a bee." I'm a very nervous bee indeed.

BOOM

It has begun, the gong has rung! I'm going to go for it! I'm going to run for a bag, I've got to try to be a useful ally after all. I owe it to Conrad.

My little legs take me as fast as they possibly can through the grass but I'm just not very fast, unfortunately. I'm starting to get the feeling that Conrad let me win that race back in the free day. Wait why am I thinking about that now?

At least I'm able to clamber towards the edge where a bag is waiting for me. I throw myself towards it and my hands work rapidly to sling it around my shoulder. As I stagger back up to my feet, bodies are already dropping around me. Screams and shouts whisper through the air as clangs and metal crunch against each other. I pause briefly as I watch the girl from One fell the boy from Eight with a curved sword. Blood! There was so much blood! I clasp my hands around my mouth to stop the projectile vomit that almost shot out of my mouth.

My allies! I have to find them. Conrad and Elijah… Conrad… he promised he'd find me.

I briefly scan around the chaos for any sign of them, aware that I can't stall for too much longer. There he is! Elijah! The short, curly-haired boy is just making his way out of the middle with a bag of his own.

"Elijah!" I call.

His eyes turn to lock onto me, they are blank, emotionless, he is paused. He says nothing but his eyes drift to something behind me. I can hear soft footsteps stalking me, so I jolt around in panic! It's the girl from two! Her blue, piercing eyes are fixed on me and my ally. I stumble back towards Elijah until I bump into him, my heart is beating so loud I can't hear what my brain is trying to say. She has to kill us, that's her job as a career, her face looks clear on that. Stern and unwavering.

She raises her spear up above her shoulder to strike.

"Elijah, what do we do?" I plead.

"Every man for himself," Elijah exclaims.

And so, he gives me a sharp shove from behind sending me tumbling towards the Two girl! My hands brace against the grass but now I'm at her feet, almost instinctively I roll out the way of her spear which impales in the ground next to me. Now that I'm lying on my back, I can see her full attention is on me, but I think … she's hesitating. With two hands on her spear, she attempts to tug it out of the ground but it's deep… too deep. There's is your moment! This is your opportunity Beckett. Would a bee freeze on the ground? I don't know but I'm not going to. I plant a quick kick into her knee, knocking her slightly off-balance as an insignificant defensive sting from a bee, and then I'm off.

I throw myself back onto my toes and zoom towards the tree line waiting at the edge. All this time I know she could already have her spear out and have it aimed at me but I don't look back. I can make it. I can make it! The trees are close now! Please don't throw it! Please!

I'm bracing for the spear to pierce through my back. I'm preparing for the stinging metal to impale my body however painful it will be.

But it never happens. Before I know it, I'm past the tree line and quickly surrounded by a forest, the darkness appearing to creep in around me. But I'm alive. I'm alive…

Panting, exhausted, and sick from adrenaline … I continue. My legs are in auto pilot now because I just know that I must get as far away from there as I can. The sounds of the gentle patter on the grass beneath me is replaced by the sounds of twigs snapping. The only breaks I take are to rest my small frame on some of the thick tree trunks that dwarf me.

The breaks are short before I continue through the forest even as it begins to almost cave in, becoming thicker and thicker until I'm fighting my way through the branches, foliage, and leaves. The chaos of the fight around the cornucopia is replaced by the stark silence of the forest. Except for the odd sound of a bird or whisper of the wind through the leaves. I appreciate the attempt at realism by the Capitol, but I wish they would have added some bees instead or even a bee's nest.

In some ways the change is reassuring, I'm no longer in a literal battleground after all. But in others, it's unsettling. I'm just left alone with my thoughts now. My thoughts and the silence.

My pace has started to change to a faint stumble and along with it, my surroundings are changing as well. The warm brown bark and sun-beaten green leaves are replaced by black, jagged, and spiked trunks, lacking any leaves at all but morphing into various unnatural shapes. The sun is no more visible either, despite the lack of leaves because the area has become dosed in a misty, grey fog engulfing everything around me. My eyes zip around desperately for a way back to the original normal forest, but I can see no way. All pathways are cut off by the thick, back trees and mist.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM… six cannons fire.

My heart starts to panic but my tiredness and weariness outweigh it.

Finally, with most of my energy depleted; I sink to the ground in despair. My fingers claw into the black mud and worms begin erupting around them. Tears now begin welling up from my throat, and the events of the day flash through my mind. Blood… so much blood and death but worse than that… Elijah. He betrayed me… I trusted him and he tried to kill me. That has stuck with me more than any scream or gush of blood.

When I stumble back to my feet that thought keeps popping into my head. He betrayed me… he betrayed me. Conrad… where is he? I hope he's ok… I hope he's alive.

"I'll find you… I promise," his calm voice rebounds through my mind. It fills my chest with a warmth momentarily, it keeps some of my anxiety at bay but only briefly.

He promised.

The spikey branches have engulfed everything around me now, I can barely see anything just endless black thorns and worse… a deathly silence has engulfed the forest. My hands and face are getting cut and sliced just by pushing my way through it.

"Help…" I manage to gargle. I'm not sure who to… maybe my granpa… maybe Conrad.

I am tugged back! My bag is caught on one of the branches. I release the strap from my back and begin tugging fruitlessly to get it back but all I'm ending up doing is cutting myself further! I stumble back causing my bee necklace, that my mom gave me, to get caught on one of the branches and yanked off my neck.

"No!"

The next thing I know I lose my footing! I yelp, finding myself slipping downwards… far down through a tight tunnel into darkness. I am squeezed all around… claustrophobia engulfing me. Then I am flung out deep underground, I roll several times across the dusty ground until I come to a halt, rolling one more time to face the roof of this cave I've found myself in, it's the only thing I have the energy left to do. I want to cry but I can't. I just feel empty of emotions now. Cut, bruised, exhausted, and… betrayed.

It's then I notice the large, round, dome objects stuck to the roof… they are green and have rows of indents on them like a… nest of some kind…. I got my wish after all. Well, sort of.

Adelina Claire, 12, District 10

When the gong goes off, I don't hesitate to sprint in and grab the closest weapon I can reach, a small, serrated knife.

My allies. I look around for El and Darrah, but they're not the ones I see. Instead, my eyes lock onto my district partner coming at me with a knife.

I just manage to dodge, but his shoulder rams into my chest and I stumble back. He strikes at me again, cutting through the front of my shirt, but just barely missing my skin.

I fall on my back and crawl away as he lunges and slashes at me, murder in his eyes. I thought he was scary when we were on the trains…

I roll out of the way as his knife descends on me and it sinks into the grass. I take the chance to kick him down, but all I managed to do was piss him off.

Great. He comes at me with his bare hands targeted towards my throat, but then he just stops in his tracks. Then, he's coughing up blood well splurting it out of his mouth is a visious jet. His body collapses and reveals the boy from Four, holding a series of throwing knives in his left hand, with one knife in his right hand, raised, poised for the kill.

"Let's go!" Someone's pulling on my arm and I'm stumbling with them, trying to keep up with them. Instinct kicks in and, like Jonathan, I raise my knife to kill whoever this is. But then I realize it's El, and I lower my arm.

Adrenaline still kicking, the two of us run past the cornucopia, over a series of train tracks, and straight towards a large lake. There's a large cabin structure on the opposite side of the lake, and to the left of that is a large mountain. I throw my head over my shoulder to check for any pursuers. I only see one, but immediately recognize her. Darrah.

"Are you two okay?" She asks, her hand tightly grasped on the handle of a small blue backpack. El nods. I don't move.

"Yeah, I think so. It was close. But we're okay." El turns to me. "Is that yours?" She looks down at the few specks of blood spatter on the front of my shirt left over from Jonathan. I shake my head.

"My district partner." I say, feeling as if that'll suffice as an explanation. I assume El watched him die at my feet. Not that it bothers me. Better him than me.

"I'm sorry." Darrah says to fill the dead air.

"I can't believe it… I just had to watch my life again, it was just as boring as the first time," she comments, it takes us a second, panting under or breaths to catch the humor in her tonne.

She glances back over the train tracks from which we came, then back over at the mountain. "What do we think?" Pointing at the mountain, El contemplates.

"If there's a cave system, the mountain might be a good place to start. This could very well be the only water source in the arena, which would create a lot of activity. I don't like that idea." El says.

"We can move later. I'd like to get out of the open." I say, and without waiting for a response, I move towards the mountain. I don't really care how harsh I seem. Better harsh than dead from a long-range arrow to the throat. I've seen the aim on some of these kids.

But neither of my allies objects. We quickly round the edge of the lake and come up to the base of the mountain. It scales up at least a mile, with lots of sharp juts across the entire face. There's only one distinct entrance, and that's at the far right of the mountain, slightly above its level with the ground. If there's other openings, they're obscured by the land.

Taliesin Ulysses, 18, District 4

The hilt of my black throwing knife sticks out of the back of the neck of the boy from Ten, roughly four meters in front of me. A beautiful, deep red blood stains my weapon while he collapses down, dead not long after. Lifeless. How he belongs.

I feel a grin begin to slither across my face. I had forgotten the feeling of ecstasy taking another life had brought me. The power of ending someone's existence… It brings me more joy than I'd like to admit. I've missed it. I can feel it seep into my heart with a kind of dark toxin, that I need more of to feed my hunger. It is invading my soul. I need more now.

I glance around the arena for my next victim. The violence is already mostly coming to a close with the individual battles only lasting a few seconds and all of them happening around the same time. Either one or more of the tributes die or they end up all backing down.

Franz is getting ready to fire a shot at the Twelve boy and his ally the Five girl, as they are making their getaway I see. Then my vision hones in on Tatiana on the other side of the cornucopia, closer to the trees. She is facing down the boys from Three and Seven… both of Conrad's allies. I wanted to kill them, before I kill Conrad, to make him suffer, to make him regret rejecting me, to break his soul. There are some things worse than death for people. I watch as Elijah (the boy from seven) pushes his "ally" toward the career. What a slug, he could have at least stabbed his ally in the back like I would have done, instead of letting a career do his dirty work. He's my next target.

As Tatiana works to trap the boy from Three with her spear, I observe Elijah's speed diligently as he races off in the opposite direction with a bag around his shoulder. I flip the blade of the dagger into my hand and raise it above my shoulder. The dagger is light and delicate, lying elegantly in my palm. The blade is long and sharp like a needle, it's not one of those curvy or meat cutter daggers but the hilt curls around the bottom of the blade like a snake. It's almost like they placed these here just for me.

He is about to be clear of the bloodbath, almost reaching where the pedestals are but unfortunately for him, my throw is also lined up perfectly. I unleash it with all my might so that it impacts his calve muscle, halting him in his tracks!

He yelps out in pain and falls down in shock, crunching his fingers against the grass. Now I'm sprinting towards him at full pace, high on the adrenaline of his pain. He glances over his shoulder and notices me coming at him, so he attempts to crawl away across the grass but by the time I am practically on top of him, I think he realises that escape is futile. He scrambles to reach for my dagger in his calve in an effort to defend himself, but I am too fast! I stamp down hard on his hand, stopping him in his tracks.

He growls again in pain.

I then use my heel to roll him over so he's facing me. He's panting with fear and panic written all over his face when he realises who has attacked him.

"Wait please! I can join the careers… I would be a useful asset," he begs me.

What should I do? This is the part where I kill him. Why am I confused? I plan almost half of everything out, and the other half I leave for the moment. I kneel down onto his chest slowly and plaster a gentle smile on my face, beginning to rub his hair soothingly and reassuringly. He appears to relax slightly, maybe thinking that I'm going to accept his request. Suddenly, I cease to run my fingers through his hair and clench it violently! He is struggling and thrashing around as I drag him across the grass by the hair towards one of the pedestals.

"Wait… wait!" He pleads.

I ignore him and pin him down again with my knee on his back, so his face is directly on one of the pedestals. His pleas for me to stop continue even as I smash his head into the metal pedestal. Once, twice, thrice, four times, five times… I lose count but all I know is I keep going. I don't stop until the shiny metal surface is covered with his blood and his cries have gone silent. His body slides down off the pedestal in a bloody mess. What a pathetic coward, pushing his ally towards Tatiana and then screaming for his life until the end, I would never go out like that. He deserved everything I did to him. I did the world a favour by ridding it of him and the boy from 10 and everyone else I've killed. The world should be grateful of me. That is my purpose. That is who I am. I'm getting rid of the people that don't deserve the ground they stand on…

I focus up again on the events around me in the rest of the cornucopia. It's clearing now of tributes, leaving just the careers in the center.

The careers are beginning to gather together in the center, cleaning up their weapons for those who made a kill like me. Jade is already yelling commands while her District partner arrives ever so slightly late, looking sheepish. Serenity is there, just staring silently downwards, the body of her district partner lying not too far from her. Her eyes are swollen in shock and sorrow. I know those eyes. They are the eyes I had when my brother ordered me to kill that rival of our gang, way back when. The life she ended could be the first of many. I knew she had it in her and she didn't even need me to bring it out of her. It looks like she is chatting with Harrison maybe he's trying to comfort her? Tell her she isn't really a monster. Get away. You know nothing Mr Jones from Eleven.

I was about to aim my knife at her district partner when he attacked her but I didn't need to. She was so fast, faster than I could have imagined. she acted quickly and decisively. Never hesitated to do what she had to.

I make my way back to rejoin the others behind Serenity. I place my hand on her shoulder after I've finished cleaning my blade. She flinches, panics even. Like she's been snapped out of a trance. I hear her inhale slightly, my presence alarming.

"Good work today," I mutter, patting her shoulder before releasing it.

"Between the two of us, we took care of that sorry pair," I continue.

She turns back to me and relaxes her face, her eyes appear still and stone cold.

"I aim to please," she states aloud, turning to the others who are now focusing in on her.

The coldness in her voice tells me she must have gotten some enjoyment out of killing that sexist. Even if it was just a little. She must have. Taking a life changes people. She is losing herself slowly just like I did and it brings me joy. She will soon discover that it only gets easier the more you do it…

Charon Aytigin, 18, District 12

I shoot off my pedestal to the sound of the gong firing, like a cat pouncing. Almost immediately my bulky legs excel me past most of the other tributes going for supplies. I crash into the side of the metal structure which vibrates across my entire shoulder. The boy from Five is already collecting a rucksack on his back so, I shove him hard into the metal dome! Mainly for a laugh if anything. It is amusing to watch his body crash into a sorry heap against the cornucopia.

My eyes dart to a bag laying strewn on the ground just past the cornucopia. Forget the District Five boy. My next move is to race to the bag and get out of this chaos which I am enjoying a little too much if I do say so myself. So, I sprint towards the bag however before I'm able to reach it the girl from Six scoops it up in her hands!

I respond by doing a kind of leap charge the remaining distance! Crashing into her and causing us to both be tangled on the ground in an awkward mess. As I lift her by her arms she thrashes around wildly.

"Let me go!" She shouts.

But I lock her arms behind her back with my own so all she can do is kick my shins with her heels and desperately attempt to headbutt me with the back of her head.

"Hey!" I hear Heather's voice call from across the blood-soaked battleground.

I jolt the girl around to face her so that her body is in between me and Heather who has a knife prepared in her hand. The girl panics more and more at the sight of Heather's weapon.

"Hold her still," Heather commands.

Wait, is she about to do what I think she is?… before I know it Heather has already tossed a knife into the girl's torso! She groans in agony! I let her body drop down to the ground, slowly bleeding out. As I stare at her dying beneath my feet, I can't help but feel a certain way inside of me. My heart is frozen in confusion at participating in someone's murder… am I feeling remorse?

The sound of Heather's fingers snapping awakens me from my trance.

"Hey!"

She's directly in front of me now.

"We need to go!" Her eyes are cold and as emotionless as they ever are. That's the Heather I know.

There is a footstep to my right! My head turns, the boy from Two is standing next to the metal dome and preparing to fire a shot at Heather from his crossbow! My heart skips a beat, and my eyes move with it to a shield lying but a meter away amongst other supplies.

"Heather!" I yell, leaping towards the shield and fastening it to my arm in a hurry.

The shot comes off from the crossbow just as I shoot my arm in front of my ally.

CLANG

The bolt embeds into the metal shield sending a shockwave through my arm. After this, we don't waste any time racing to the wooden houses on our right until we are well out of the vision of the boy from Two...

We don't talk to each other again until we have crossed over a rail track leading to a new part of the town. The track seems to curl around the town endlessly in either direction. If there's a train track that means there must be a train! After we've crossed the track the houses become more uniformed. Instead of wooden shacks, they are made of stone and blue bricks on the rooves. The windows are more advanced, and the grass has become a stony pavement under our feet, winding through the narrow, tightly packed streets. We nonverbally decide to push our way into one of the houses. Inside is a relatively small, dark room with pots, pans, and furniture scattered about the place, making it appear much smaller than it is. On the left is a kitchen area while on the right is a single, wooden bed. Directly in front of us is a fireplace, surrounded by a table and chairs. Panting heavy, I drop the shield onto the wooden floorboard, the shield that still has the bolt sticking into it. Then I collapse onto the soft, animal skin bed. A deep breath sinks through my entire chest… relief. For what? I'm not entirely sure, to be honest.

"Why would you do that?" Heather suddenly groans.

What is she on about? I push myself back up into a sitting position to face her. She is slouched on one of the wooden chairs next to the extinguished fireplace.

"What?" I ask, genuinely bemused.

"Save me? You had every reason not to," she answers.

"Did I miss something or are we allies?" I retort, confused.

She rolls her eyes.

"What? That was for real? I thought that was just some bullshit and we were going to leave each other to die at the first chance we got?" She exclaims.

"Yeah well…" I pause.

"I wouldn't wanna be left to die so I figured… you wouldn't wanna either?" I shrug, looking back up at her. For the first time, I sound uncertain talking to her. My voice is quivering slightly.

Her mouth sinks, astounded. She lifts herself up off the chair in surprise.

"I used to know this guy called Charon Aytigin… and he was a complete ass."

I get up off the bed and head over to my food bag that I left on the table.

"Yeah well, don't get used to it… I won't be saving your skin again," I snicker, rummaging around in the bag that I took from the girl from Six.

"That's more like it," she replies.

I move back to face her, she now has a slight smile upon her face. Not condescending or snarky like her usual smile but genuine. It doesn't last long, however.

"We should collect the supplies in our bags from this house and then move on further away," she suggests.

"Agreed."

Marissa Grey, 17, District 4

The bloodbath went by in a blur. Every action I made, every step I took, calculated to ensure optimal results. I saw the pristine sword leaning against the metal frame of the cornucopia. I got to it first. I saw the boy from Five with too much of my gear. I chased after him. He put up a good fight, but once I wrestled him to the ground, he didn't stand a chance.

We spent a bit of time organizing the Cornucopia, the most valuable weapons and items stored deep in the center of the structure. The cannons fired in the middle of that. Six in total.

Not good enough. We need more kills. We need to thin the herd. There are still a decent amount of strong contenders left. I want them out before our alliance's inevitable collapse. I want to be ready for it.

A good thirty minutes have passed since the bloodbath now. The others are mostly spread about the battleground now, munching on some of the food we gathered which was noticeably less than many previous years. The Gamemakers must want us to explore the houses.

"Hey." Jade walks up to me. "What are you looking for?" her commanding exterior seeming to have worn out for now.

"I'm trying to figure out where everyone could have dispersed to. You see that?" I point towards a large mountain. "I think I saw a few kids run off in that direction." I move my finger to the right, towards the bulk of the town that surrounds us. "A few people might have gone that way. Plus, it looks like a solid place for shelter and supplies."

"What do you think is past all those houses? The tall structure?" Jade points through the houses and I see what she's talking about. A tall, black, almost gothic building that towers over everything else.

"I'm not sure. I don't think we want to find out yet." I tell her truthfully. As open as the arena seems, something about the enclosed spaces makes me anxious thinking about. Being trapped in there with a mutt, back against the wall as a group of tributes box you in. Yeah, no thanks. I've seen that happen too many times in past Games. I won't let it happen to me.

I find myself thinking about my family back home. I bet they're making fun of my lack of kills. I bet they're looking forward to my demise. In fact, who back home would be rooting for me? They were all rooting for Sofia.

"How are you feeling? Do you want to start hunting soon?" She asks. I nod, wanting to get out of my own head. I can't let anything distract me from this. I've been sloppy so far, getting caught up with home. With Jade. It showed during my private sessions.

"Yes. I very much do." I grab the handle of my sword and head back to the rest of the group, not waiting for Jade to follow, but knowing she will. Feeling much more grounded than I did when the podium initially brought us up here, every single tribute remaining should be scared. Including the seven surrounding me.

Eulogies

24th: Ricky James (D9M) Killed by Serenity Jasper - decapitated. I think it's safe to say not many people liked Ricky. Like most villainous characters, he was a lot of fun to write for, but I don't think he'll be missed. I know Serenity won't miss him. Thank you to wiifan2002 for submitting him!

23rd: Tristan Card (D8M) Killed by Jade Hastings – Slashed through the chest. Tristan was always a very relatable boy to me. He was a people pleaser and an everyman character. He was also very selfless and put his siblings before himself so a sacrifice arc for his ally made a lot of sense to us. And since we didn't have any specific plans for him in the long term it came sooner rather than later. Thanks for the submission evilpencilbox.

22nd: Jonathan Priel (D10M) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Knife thrown through neck. Jonathan may have been a character that many expected to make it further. He was very cool and unique however we wanted to make room for other villains in the story as we didn't have any specific plans for him going forward. Thanks for the submission Lilah32.

21st: Elijah Axenfros (D7M) Killed by Taliesin Ulysses – Blunt force trauma. I think Elijah went into a lot of peoples bad books lately. His personality I always read as insincere and quite mixed however I don't really fault him too much. He was just trying to do what he could to survive in a horrible situation. But in the end I think he was a saint compared to his killer. Thanks for the submission Pacecca.

20th: Emily Lynch (D6F) Killed by Heather Monroe – Knife thrown into torso. Emily was a relatively average girl, but her relationship with her brother was an absolute joy to write. In contrast to her toxic relationship with her (ex) boyfriend, she just felt so real and so sweet when she was with Lukas. She definitely deserved better than the arena, but I had a ton of fun writing her. Thank you for submitting her AxelFalTon!

19th: Kalen Demner (D5M) Killed by Marissa Grey - Sliced with a sword. Kalen had a really tragic past, one that was really fun to explore. I enjoyed exploring his relationship with his younger sister, and I know despite their struggles, they loved each other a lot. Thank you for submitting him owlthewriter, I had a lot of fun with him!

I forgot to do an author's note last time… whoops. So here we have it… 6 deaths again sorry if anyone died that you were routing for or wanted to see more of but that is the nature of syots unfortunately. So we love hearing all your thoughts. Were there any big unexpected deaths for you? Let us know.

Povs written by Nautics: Tristan, Beckett, Taliesin, Charon

Povs written by Moose: Nadia, Serenity, Adelina, Marissa